


Spoken With Heart

by chibimono



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Calling home, Eavesdropping, Gabe speaks Spanish, Jack's POV, Love Confessions, M/M, Omnic Crisis, Pining, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibimono/pseuds/chibimono
Summary: Jack eavesdrops on Gabe's calls home and likes what he hears.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AsheRhyder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsheRhyder/gifts).



> Posting for Reaper76 week, day 5: Over the Airwaves.
> 
> Much thanks to Ashe Rhyder for the beta work and cheering. Without their help, this would still be just an idea floating in the back of my mind.
> 
> My Spanish isn't so great; I haven't spoken it since I was very young and I've never read or wrote it. I've tried to avoid using Spanish that needs translating, but there are a few words here and there. If there is anything that needs correcting, please let me know.

It was an accident the first time. Jack was searching the base for Gabe, to let him know the Brass had an update on their transport arrival. He found his commander tucked away in a small comm room, the lights low as he sat before a screen with a tele-link up. There were two women on the call with Gabe, and right away, from the conversations about family and the few pictures that Gabe kept with him, Jack knew it was his mother and grandmother. Instead of waving to Gabe for his attention, Jack found himself ducking just out of sight. But not out of range of hearing.

Jack knew just enough Spanish to keep up with the conversation--

_"We worry, Mijito."_

_"I know, Abuelita, but I'm fine. Tell me about your garden. How are the tomatoes?"_

_"Ay, no. Don't try distracting me again. Tell me about your people, your team. Are they okay? Who is taking care of you?"_

\--but the meaning of it all was lost to Jack.

Lost in the purr and rumble of Gabe's voice. 

Jack shouldn't have listened in, but he found himself melting against the door frame, closing his eyes to better hear the low tones and rolling of his tongue. It was as if Gabe's voice was so comfortable in the language of his home that it slipped into something deep and smooth. Jack was so used to Gabe's sharp, sarcastic wit and drawling boredom in English that he figured he spoke it at home, as well. Not this poetic and rich hum of words that warmed Jack's insides, that made Jack dizzy with want.

Gabe disconnects with a sweet little blown kiss to the camera, his mother and grandmother sing-songing their love and farewells for _Gabi_.

_Gabi_.

Jack didn't even have time to recover before Gabe found him at the doorway.

"You okay, Morrison?"

The purr is gone, back to the familiar, dry enunciations Jack knew all too well. Like it was just a dream.

At least Jack is able to make excuses for his flushed face and breathlessness. "Running around, looking for you. The Under-Secretary has an update."

++++++++++

He didn't mean for it to happen again, listening in as Gabe called his family, but Jack was asleep in their shared hotel room and...

_"Hola, Mama. Hola, Abuelita."_

_"Ay, mi Gabi! Hola, Mijito!"_

His voice was like a low, rumbling whisper, pouring thick and rich like melted chocolate over Jack's ears. He curled up tighter in his blankets and listened to Gabe ask about church-going friends and the neighbors' kids, about the chilies and the roses in the garden. So innocent and domestic, and Jack felt like such a creep for how much he wanted Gabe to climb into his bed and speak like that against his skin. The guilt of it, the shame of twisting something so simple and pure into something so tawdry and base made Jack burn with embarrassment. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to pull a pillow over his head to muffle the conversation.

++++++++++

It kept happening. The calls home were a near weekly thing, and though Gabe never exactly announced that he was going to make them, Jack learned the signs of when Gabe thought it would be safe to step away. They were at war, fighting battles against Bastions as Omniums churned them out in an alarming rates, but there were always a few days of rest in between each rush they made. While everyone seemed to settle in before the next move, Gabe would slip away quietly and find some out of the way place with a tele-link. Jack would stammer and stumble his way out of whatever he was involved in to follow, like a lost puppy after his master.

Gabe never talked about the fighting, and the most his mother or grandmother would bring up would be the health of Gabe's team. Jack's name would come up often and much more regularly than the others--and not just _Morrison_ , but actually _Jack_ \--with Gabe telling them some stupid thing that Jack did without too much of the gory details. Gabe would be furious with him on the battlefield for being such a reckless tragedy, but over the tele-link he would chuckle and sigh, his family humming along in agreement about Jack being an idiot. But just hearing his name-- _Jack_ \--on Gabe's lips in that rolling wash of poetic cadence made Jack's knees weak, no matter how insulting Gabe was about his intelligence or skill.

++++++++++

While Gabe was a quick tempered, sarcastic smartass, _Gabi_ was a smooth, gentle romantic. His grandmother would sometimes bring up the lovely, marriageable members of her church, in hopes to maybe pique Gabe's interest.

_"No one wants an old soldier, Abuelita."_

_"But everyone wants a hero, Mijito."_

_"I don't want someone to love me for being a hero. They should love me for me."_

_"They will, Gabi. When they know you, they will."_

_"Maybe one day, hm? One day, I will love someone that will love me and we will be happy. Then you won't have to worry so much, Abuelita."_

_"I always worry, mi Gabriel."_

Jack ached a little that Gabe thought he wouldn't be wanted. He maybe hated himself, too, because he did want Gabe, but more for his bilingual tongue. 

He really needed to stop torturing himself.

++++++++++

The power grid went down in Mexico after a fierce strike by the Omnics, pitching most of it's population into darkness. The team struggled for two weeks to get enough generators to areas that needed them the most.

Jack initially panicked; he feared as much as he anticipated the reaction he'd have up against Gabe's poetic elocution in the light of day. He learned very quickly that Gabe speaking Spanish was still not the same as _Gabi_ speaking Spanish. Yes, the words tumbled and rolled with perfection, but they lacked the heart, the smooth, secretive timbre Gabe shared with his family. He was as professional and as sharp as he ever was in English, and the disappointment was like a blow to Jack's chest. It was fine, Jack told himself, he wouldn't be able to work otherwise.

By the end of the second week, the less war-torn towns were waiting for them, having little celebrations as soon as power was restored to their clinics and shelters. What food and drink could be spared were passed around freely, toasting the hard work and perseverance of the small UN taskforce. Church bells would ring as soon as they were in sight, the town folk meeting them in their best dress, like they were celebrates. Gabe would never let them stay too long, because there was always more work to be done, but it was humbling to have the attention for a little while.

At one such fiesta, Gabe and Jack were talking with the mayor, trying to convince him it wasn't worth it to create a holiday in honor of the team, returning light to their town was a part of their job. Jack found himself handling most of the conversation when Gabe was distracted, his attention pulled to a little girl as she cried. He could tell Gabe was trying not to be rude and just blow the mayor off, but the longer the girl cried, the more Gabe pulled away.

Finally, mayor left them to find other people to share his idea with, and Gabe broke away without another word, heading over to kneel down before the little girl.

_"Ay, niña,"_ Gabe--no, _Gabi_ said, his tones dipping into that deep and tender cadence as he tilted her little face up and wiped away her tears. _"Why are you so sad in such a pretty dress, hm?"_

_"The boys pushed me. I fell and scraped my knee and tore the lace... It's a new dress. Mama will be mad..."_ She held up the hem to show him, how the lace had separated from the end of her dress; nothing that a little stitching couldn't fix.

Gabi frowned. _"Should I go beat them up?"_

_"Please?"_ the girl asked, tears in her eyes.

_"But I'm too big,"_ he said. When she started to cry again, he held out his arms. _"Come with me. I'll still teach them a lesson. And then I'll tell your mama that it's not your fault. She'll believe me, right?"_

The little girl put her arms around Gabi's neck and let him pick her up, sniffling into his shoulder. He turned and nearly ran right into Jack. 

Jack, who no doubt was standing there pink cheeked and glassy eyed. Jack, who hovered too close, like the pervert he was, just to hear Gabe console a little girl in Spanish.

"What, Morrison?"

The clipped tones were back and Jack felt himself stumbling, stuttering for an excuse. "Nothing, Gabi, I--"

Just like that, Jack was caught, gave himself away by tripping over his own tongue. A fire lit in Gabe's eyes; a recognition or understanding, Jack wasn't sure, but he knew it wasn't good. A sneer quickly followed across Gabe's lips and he pushed Jack out of the way, leaving him behind to deal with troublesome little boys. Jack knew this wasn't going to end well for him, as he stood there watching what was probably his last glimpse of Gabi being swallowed by the crowd.

++++++++++

"You think it's funny or something?" Gabe demanded, cornering Jack in the transport bay hours later.

"No!--" Jack was quick to assure him, as Gabe shoved him roughly against a crate.

"That's private, Morrison. You'd only know that name if you've heard it from my mom or my grandmother. You been spying on me, farmboy?"

"Not on purpose!"

"What'd you do? Trip into one of my phone calls?"

Jack rubbed a nervous hand over the back of his neck; it was probably as red as his face felt right then. "Kind of, maybe, the first time... But I didn't really mean to..."

Gabe pushed a little harder, pinning Jack and scowling in his face. "The first time?"

"I've listened to a couple of them--"

"How many is a couple?!"

"Since the Under-Secretary was having a hard time scheduling a transport for us--" The stunned look Gabe had, like a deer caught in headlights, left Jack scrambling to apologize. "I'm sorry, Gabe! Really... I know it was private--"

"You're damn right it was, Morrison!"

"But I couldn't help it! I saw... I saw a part of you I don't get to see any other time..." A skeptical frown pulled at Gabe's mouth, and for a fleeting moment Jack wanted to kiss it away. "You like gardening and kids and you're never sarcastic with your grandma the way you are with everyone else. And you... just _talk_... with this familiarity. You're whole voice changes and... it... I liked it."

Gabe stepped back, letting Jack go. He didn't meet Jack's eyes when he told him, harsh and biting, "Get out of here. That's an order."

Jack swallowed against a lump in his throat and the heartache in his chest. "Yes, sir." He left the transport bay for his bunk without looking back.

++++++++++

A small part of Jack feared that he might be sent back to the US. He'd really come to like this team. He hoped he knew Gabe enough from their time in SEP that their friendship would mean something. That maybe Gabe could overlook this breach of personal privacy and let him stay. But Gabe was always a very private kind of person, and this was a terrible violation on Jack's part.

Stewing in his own misery, Jack hid away in the empty barracks reserved for his team, staring at the water-stained ceiling over his bunk. He didn't bother looking over when the door shut and latched, figuring Ana was done dealing with Torbjorn's gruff attitude for the night and wanted to shut him out for a while.

"My Abuelita thinks... I may have been a little hasty."

Jack sat up so fast he got a head rush, found himself swaying to stay upright. There was Gabe, leaning against the closed door, looking down at his boots with a begrudging scowl. Reaching up, Gabe rubbed at his shoulder, at a scar Jack knew was there because Jack had done something reckless and Gabe saved him by taking the hit.

"I got angry... because I was embarrassed. I used to get picked on for being a mama's boy when I was little. Nobody wants to pick on a hardass."

Jack felt himself smiling, hoping he could get Gabi to look up and see him. "You don't always have to be a hardass, though."

Gabi does finally look up, a hesitant kind of wistfulness in those rich brown eyes. "Would you still listen to me if I wasn't?"

"I have been," Jack said, sure and earnest. "Pretty sure I haven't stopped... Maybe even listened more than I should have... I kinda like it."

Gabe looked confused. "You said it before. You like what?"

Jack felt himself blushing, and he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "When you talk... but to your family. And that little girl. You don't just speak Spanish, your... your whole... you change. It's like..."

"Like what, Morrison?" Gabe grumbled, starting to sound a little impatient. "Help me, here. I can't read your mind."

With a groan, Jack tried to wrack his brain with the best way to explain. How can he tell Gabe his voice was like honey to his ears, makes his pulse thunder through his veins, leaves his mouth dry. "It's like... the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life," Jack tries, and it's so inadequate. 

Gabe laughed, a sharp, scoffing sound. "You sheltered farmboy, you got a dialect kink."

"No," Jack sighed with force, rolling his eyes. Dammit, he never thought he'd have to make Gabe understand. "Gabe, we just spent two weeks trekking up and down Mexico, with thousands of people who speak Spanish. None of them meant a thing to me. I thought maybe it could just be you speaking Spanish, just in general, but when you're professional and barking orders, it still doesn't do anything for me. It's just... you. When you think you're by yourself and get comfortable. Talking to your mother about marigolds. Telling a little girl how pretty her dress is. Nobody else sounds like... like music. Like heaven. Like..." Jack hissed out a frustrated breath, shrugging his shoulders at his loss for words.

For second time that day, Jack looked up to find Gabe stunned, his mouth slack and eyes in awe. "Jack..."

"I'm sorry, Gabe. I know it's not professional. I know I screwed up. I just... I liked it. Like you. Dammit," Jack stopped, covering his face with his hands. He felt like he was in elementary school, with butterflies in his stomach as he confessed to his crush. 

_"I forgive you, Jack. I'm not mad..."_ Oh, Gabe was talking to him. No, _Gabi_ was. That deep, gentle rumble, speaking, for the first time, just to Jack, for Jack. He crossed the barrack floor in a slow, tentative stride, and took a seat on the cot across from Jack. A nervous tick has Gabe running his fingers over his facial hair, buying him time to find more words. "The next time I call home... You want to meet my Abuelita?"

That warm feeling of want curled tight in Jack's chest, around his heart. "I'd love that."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


End file.
